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Hitler Meets with Military Advisors
Explanation: Hitler meets with his top military advisors to declare that Germany needs more land (from it's neighbors) to grow and prosper-he planned to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia, and claimed that he would do this with force, regardless of the risk of war.
Key Players: Hitler and Germany's Top Military Advisors
Responses: German troops march on Austria -
German Troops March on Austria
Explanation: The majority of Austria's 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany, so when German troops marched, it was no surprise that a day later Germany announced it's union with Austria.
Key Players: German pole in Austria, Hitler
Responses: Hitler tries to do the same to Czechoslovakia. -
German Propaganda in Czechoslovakia
Explanation: Hitler began massing troops on the Czech border as he put out propaganda that the Czechs abused the Sudeten Germans.
Key Players: German speaking people in Czech, Hitler
Responses: U.S. correspondent William Shirer, then stationed in Berlin, wrote in his diary, "The Nazi press [is] full of hysterical headlines. All lies." -
The Munich Agreement
Explanation: Signed by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French premier Edouard Daladier to appease Hitler's Nazi Germany-turning the Sudetenland over to Germany.
Key Terms: Sudetenland-the northern, western, & southwestern parts of Czechoslovakia.
appeasement-giving up principles to pacify an aggressor
Key Players:Edouard Daladier, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler
Responses: Winston Churchill, Chamberlain's political rival in Great Britain, was unsatisfied. -
German Troops Pour into Czechoslovakia
Explanation: German troops march into what remained of Czechoslovakia; Hitler claiming, "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist."
Key Players: Hitler and his army
Responses: Germany turns toward Poland -
Stalin Signs Nonaggression Pact With Hitler
Explanation: Fascist Germany and Communist Russia consecutively sign a nonaggression pact-committing never to attack each other- and a second secret pact agreeing to split Poland.
Key Terms: Nonaggression pact- neither will attack or show aggression towards each other
Key Players: Germany and the Soviet Union
Responses: Germany takes Poland -
Germany Takes Poland
Explanation: Hitler used his air force and army to quickly take control of Poland, testing Germany's newest military strategy, blitzkrieg.
Key Terms: Blitzkrieg-(lightning war) German war strategy making use of advantages in military technology like fast tanks and more powerful aircraft to take the enemy by surprise and crush all opposition.
Key Players: German military
Responses: 3 days following, Britain and France declared war on Germany -
World War II Begins
Explanation: Britain and France declare war on Germany after Germany takes Poland. The Soviet Union attacks Poland from the East, taking some of it's territory, and Poland Seizes to exist.
Key Players: Britain, France, Germany, Soviet Union
Responses: The Phony War begins -
The Phony War
Explanation: After Germany takes Poland, French and British Soldiers sat on the Maginot Line, and German Soldiers sat on the siegfried line a few miles away, waiting for something to happen-people called this the Phony War in the papers.
Key Terms: Maginot Line- a system of fortifications built along France's eastern border
Siegfried Line-System of German fortifications built close to the Maginot line
Key Players: French, British, and German Soldiers
Responses: German Invasion of Belgium -
Stalin's Soviet Army Takes Finland
Explanation: Stalin sent his Soviet Army into Finland, and Fins surrendered after only three months of fighting.
Key Players: Soviet Army, Fins -
Hitler Invades-The End of The Phony War
Explanation: Hitler invades Denmark and Norway in what he claims to "protect their freedom and independence," when he really planned to build bases along the coasts to strike Great Britain. Next he overruns Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg by the end of May, ending the Phony war.
Key Players: German Military
Responses: Germans March Towards Paris -
The Fall Of France
Explanation: German Soldiers enter France through the Ardennes, causing French and British troops to fled to the Beaches of Dunkirk.
Key Terms: Ardennes-a region of wooded ravines in northeast France thought to be impassable.
Key Players: The German and French Armies.
Responses:Italy enters the war on Germany's side -
Italy Enters the War
Explanation: Italy enters the war on Germany's side, Invading the south side of France.
Key Players: Italy, Germany
Responses:Germans close in on Paris -
Hitler's Terms of Surrender
Explanation: Hitler hands French officers his terms of surrender. It stated Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Petain, set up in Vichy southern France.
Key Players: German military, Hitler, Marshal Philippe Petain
Responses:French flee to Britain -
French Flee to Britain
Explanation: After France fell, French General Charles de Gaulle and others flee to England, where he set up a government-in-exile, claiming "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war."
Key Terms: Government-in-exile - a political group claiming to be a country, but practicing in a foreign country
Key Players: French General Charles de Gaulle -
Battle of Britain
Explanation: Germans begin to take British skies by making bombing runs over Britain, overpowering the RAF. Germans flew 2,000 planes over Britain every night for two solid months, pounding London.
Key Terms: RAF-Royal Air Force
Key Players: German and British Air Force
Responses: RAF Fights Back -
RAF Fights Back
Explanation: With the help of the new radar, British pilots plotted flight paths of German planes even in darkness, shooting down over 185 German Planes-losing only 26 aircraft.
Key Players: British RAF
Responses: Hitler calls off the invasion -
Hitler Calls off Invasion of Britain
Explanation: Hitler calls off the invasion of Britain indefinitely. Still,German bombers continue to pound Britain's cities in efforts to disrupt production and break civilian morale.
Key Players: German and British Air Forces
Responses: British pilots also bomb German cities, although civilians in both counties unrelentingly carry on.
